SPECIAL OFF SITE PRESENTATION
PLEASE NOTE! All films in the DOCUMENTARIES OF THE 21st CENTURY IN QUEBEC series will be screened at the Salle Martial-Caron at the College universitaire de Saint-Boniface, 200 De Cathedrale Ave.
* Admission is free and all are welcome
LA CLASSE DE MADAME LISE
Dir. Sylvie Groulx | 2006 | 89 mins. | French with English subtitles
Their names are Rafik, Solace, Rahat, Jessica and Adonay. They are six years old. They live in Park-Extension, a multi-ethnic neighborhood in the heart of Montréal and they are pupils in Madame Lise’s grade-one class.
For one entire school year, director Sylvie Groulx observed these students as they learned from and interacted with each other. She witnessed the patient work of a primary teacher facing the new reality of modern urban life: children of diverse ethnic origins with major cultural differences struggling to learn French, a language not heard at home.
La classe de madame Lise uncovers the goodwill of a group of disparate students whose friendships surpass their differences, their knowing smiles, their sulkiness and mocking devoid of malice. This film is also a portrait of Lise Coupal, their warm and attentive, tolerant yet firm teacher who is overjoyed when she discovers unknown potential in a timid boy. La classe de madame Lise goes beyond the classroom to inspire genuine confidence in the future.
JUTRA AWARD, 2006 - Winner, Best Documentary
RENDEZ-VOUS DU CINÉMA QUÉBÉCOIS 2006 - Nominated, Alex and Ruth Dworkin Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance
